Tag Archives: ferrari

FXX Evo

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2005 Ferrari FXX Evoluzione

Offered by Gooding & Company | Monterey, California | August 17-18, 2013

2005 Ferrari FXX Evoluzione

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Ferrari Enzo was the epitome of supercars when it came out in 2002. But some people are really hard to please and Ferrari realized they could capitalize on these people and sell them an upgraded Enzo for double the money.

So in 2005 they took a street-legal Enzo and made it entirely street-illegal. The engine was enlarged – to a 6.3-liter V-12 making 789 horsepower. Then they threw in their Formula One transmission, upgraded brakes, and custom-made racing slicks.

Then they sought out customers (you weren’t allowed to approach Ferrari with the intent to buy one). You would purchase the car (at something like $1.8 million a pop) and you would be allowed to drive it on Ferrari-designated track days all over the world. Then Ferrari would house the car for you – forget taking your new $2 million toy home! Owners and drivers (including Michael Schumacher) would send all their track day data back to Ferrari for whatever purposes they saw fit.

The Evoluzione program began after all 30 FXXs had been built. It was a kit that bumped horsepower up to 850, lowered aerodynamic drag, and increased shift times. This car has that kit. This was the first FXX built and has had a single-owner from new. Thankfully, Ferrari has removed restrictions on taking the car home so now you can take this one to yours. It is still the ultimate example of Ferrari engineering superiority and track prowess. It should sell for between $2,300,000-$2,600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Gooding’s sale.

Update: Not sold.

S/N: ZFFHX62X000145369

Ferrari 500 Mondial

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1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I by Pinin Farina

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 16-17, 2013

1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I by Pinin Farina

We featured a Ferrari 750 Monza a few weeks back. Well this car, even though it’s called a “Mondial,” is part of that family of cars. In fact, it directly preceded the 750 Monza. The 500 Mondial was built for 1954 only.

Ferrari began building four-cylinder engines for Formula Two in 1952 and walked away with the championship in ’52 and ’53. Back in these days, the Scuderia would transfer those race engines directly into other cars – many of which were sold to customers (imagine Ferrari or McLaren doing that today). In this case, the 2.0-liter Lampredi straight-four was dropped into the 500 Mondial sports racing car. It makes 170 horsepower.

This was one of four cars entered by Ferrari in the 1954 Mille Miglia – but because the organizers of that race kept such poor records, nobody knows for sure who drove it or where it finished. It was sold upon completion of that race and used by a privateer in Italy before making its way to its second owner in Venezuela the following year.

It entered American ownership in 1964 and it was restored for the first time in 1987 and again 10 years later in 1997. Only 20 Series I cars were built, with an additional 10 Series II cars – making there just 30 examples of the 500 Mondial built. This is car #6. It has Scuderia Ferrari team history and Mille Miglia history. And it’s one of those great cars that is perfect for classic car rallies and tours. It is expected to sell for between $2,750,000-$3,250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Sold $3,520,000.

S/N: 418MD

One-Off Ferrari 250 Europa by Vignale

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1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe by Vignale

Offered by Bonhams | Carmel, California | August 16, 2013

1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe by Vignale

Photo – Bonhams

The Ferrari 250 Europa was the first road car variant of the Ferrari 250 – the model line that pushed Ferrari over the edge from race car builder who built road cars to road car builder who builds race cars.

This particular Europa was bodied with a one-off body by Vignale and shown at the 1954 New York Auto Show. It was purchased from Ferrari by Luigi Chinetti – the longtime U.S. importer for Ferrari and the man responsible for introducing the brand to America. He had the car painted red for the auto show. Chinetti owned the car for about five years before selling it. It bounced around and ended up in California – where it was painted purple and a Chevy V8 was installed.

A model-correct, 200 horsepower 3.0-liter V12 is in the car now. The car was bought in unrestored, original and slightly modified/damaged repaired condition in 2004-ish by Tom Shaughnessy, renowned Ferrari rescuer.

In 2009, the car went to its current owner in Switzerland, who painstakingly restored it to the exact look it had on the Auto Show stand in 1954. Only 20 250 Europas were built (not to be confused with the 250 Europa GT). Only one of them has a body that looks like this. It is expected to sell for between $2,800,000-$3,400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ Quail Lodge Auction.

Update: Sold $2,805,000.

Update II: Sold, RM Sotheby’s “Driven by Disruption,” December 2015, $3,300,000.

Update III: Sold, RM Sotheby’s “Leggenda e Passione,” September 2017, $3,440,850.

Ferrari 750 Monza

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1954 Ferrari 750 Monza Spider by Scaglietti

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 17, 2013

1954 Ferrari 750 Monza Spider by Scaglietti

Ferrari has always been a company focused on racing. The saying has always been “they build road cars so they can afford to go racing.” And it’s true. While, this is a race car, it was successful because of earlier race cars.

To wit: the engine. Alberto Ascari’s second Formula One championship was at the helm of a Lampredi straight-four-powered car. Because this engine was so successful in F1, Ferrari decided to install it in their sports racing cars, beginning in 1953. The 750 Monza (which used a 250 horsepower 3.0-liter variant of the engine) was the fourth iteration of what is now referred to as the “Monza” line of sports cars. It was built for 1954 only.

This car has known ownership history from new and was driven by Mike Hawthorn at Goodwood during its first racing season. It was then acquired by Jaguar and used for testing purposes (for comparisons to the D-Type). They sold it to one of their drivers (1951 Le Mans-winner Peter Whitehead) who sold it to Jack Brabham, who took it to Australia and hired drivers to race it in the 1955 season down under.

It entered its first historic race in 1987 and has been used and cared for since. It has been restored at some point and is a driveable and raceable race car. It is among the first of the 35 750 Monzas built and should bring about $2.5 million at auction. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Mecum’s Monterey lineup.

Update: Failed to sell (high bid of $3,250,000).

S/N: 0462MD

Bonhams Goodwood Results

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As you may or may not have heard, Bonhams set a world record for “Most Expensive Car Sold at Auction” yesterday during what was an overall incredible sale. The record went to our featured 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 race car that was driven to race victories by Juan Manual Fangio. It brought an incredible, but not unpredicted, $29,614,692. The second-highest selling car was also one of our feature cars, the 1955 Maserati 300S. It sold for $6,093,965. The next highest-selling car after that was this 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans Tourer which went for $2,878,901.

1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans Tourer

Next up, this 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast. It brought $1,288,291. Our featured Mercedes-Benz Model 630K Tourer was next at $1,220,606 – quite a sum for an all-original car and quadruple the upper end of its pre-sale estimate.

1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast

The next car was another feature car – the Austin-Healey Special Test Car at what is most certainly a world record for a Healey: $1,186,763. After that, this 1913 Rolls-Royce 45/50hp Silver Ghost London-to-Edinburgh Tourer rolled across the block for $1,085,234.

1913 Rolls-Royce 45-50hp Silver Ghost London-to-Edinburgh Tourer

The next-highest selling car was our final feature car (talk about picking the winners!). It was “Mathilda” – a Lagonda LG45 Rapide. It sold for $932,942. The remaining most interesting car easily goes to this 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Sports Saloon (I love those chunky tires). It brought $797,571. Click here for full results and the big list of other $100,000+ sales and stream of beautiful old cars.

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Sports Saloon

May 2013 Auction Highlights Part II

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And for the second week in a row we recap auction highlights for May – easily led off by RM’s spectacular sale at Villa Erba (Lake Como) Italy. The top sale by a long way was our featured ex-Le Mans Ferrari 340/375. It sold for $12,812,800. Feature cars from this sale that failed to meet their reserve and did not sell included the 1905 Fiat Touring car, the Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix and the Bugatti Type 44 Grand Sport. Million dollar sales included this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB by Scaglietti for $1,456,000.

1965 Ferrari 275 GTB by Scaglietti

Only two of our other feature cars cracked the million-dollar mark. They were the Ferrari 400 Superamerica which went for $2,839,200. The Ferrari 599XX sold for $1,193,920. This 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster sold for $1,448,720 (it’s not even a Gullwing!).

1962 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

Other sales included this custom Maserati Fastback Bellagio for $152,880. The beautiful Porsche 356 Pre-A Speedster sold for $247,520. This 1985 Ferrati 288 GTO sold for $1,252,160. Below the 288 GTO is a gold 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS that sold for $1,033,760.

1985 Ferrati 288 GTO

1965 Ferrari 275 GTS

Three of our five featured Bugatti ended up selling. They were the Type 30 Torpedo for $407,680, the Type 40 Roadster Luxe for $422,240 and the Type 46 Superprofile Coupe for $873,600. Two more million-dollar Ferraris included this 1961 250 GT Series II Cabriolet by Pininfarina for $1,084,720 and this 2004 Enzo (second picture below) for $1,390,480.

1961 250 GT Series II Cabriolet by Pininfarina

2004 Ferrari Enzo

And the two smallish cars we featured also both sold. The Cisitalia 33DF brought $167,440. And the Moretti 750 Gran Sport sold for $174,720. Below, this 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso sold for $1,266,720. You can check out full results here.

1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

Next up was Bonhams’ sale held at Spa-Francorchamps. The top sale there was this 1964 Ferrari 275GTB for $1,167,977.

1964 Ferrari 275GTB

All four of our featured cars: the Alfa 6C 2500 by Pinin Farina, the 6C 2500 by Diamante, the Koenig Ferrari and the Davies Special all failed to sell (yikes – didn’t do too well picking them this time). Interesting sales were headed by this 1965 Fiat-OSCA 1600S Cabriolet by Pinin Farina. It sold for $22,318. Check out full results here.

1965 Fiat-OSCA 1600S Cabriolet by Pinin Farina

May 2013 Auction Highlights, Part I

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There were a number of big-time auctions in May – led off by Auctions America’s Auburn Spring sale. We’ll start with interesting cars, which was topped by this 1983 Lincoln Quicksilver Concept by Ghia. It has a Ford V6 and is a running car and sold for only $9,570.

1983 Lincoln Quicksilver Concept by Ghia photo 1983LincolnQuicksilverbyGhia_zps76785824.jpg

Our featured Hudson Commodore 8 Convertible sold for $51,700. Top sale went to this 1930 Packard Super Eight Model 745 Dual-Cowl Phaeton fro $198,000. Check out full results here.

1930 Packard Super Eight Model 745 Dual-Cowl Phaeton photo 1930PackardSuperEightModel745Dual-CowlPhaeton_zps42b4ff3a.jpg

Next up is Bonhams’ annual Aston Martin sale. The top sale (by far) was our featured DB4GT Bertone “Jet” which sold for $4,897,334. Our other featured car, the DB7 V12 Prototype sold for $34,663. One car whose price really caught my attention was this 2000 SWB Vantage Volante Special Edition which brought $609,924. These things were always expensive and I never really understood why. There were a number of really high-dollar cars and an apparent 100% sell-through rate. Check out complete results here.

2000 Aston Martin SWB Vantage Volante Special Edition photo 2000AstonMartinSWBVantageVolanteSpecialEdition_zps03c9cde3.jpg

Next up (and I’ve just decided to split May’s auction highlights into two posts) was Mecum’s Indianapolis Spring sale. The top sale was our featured Shelby GT500 Super Snake for $1,300,000. This sale had some odd results – including $107,500 for a Buick GNX and $1,000,000 for one of the handful of Shelby GT500 replicas used in the Nicolas Cage version of Gone in 60 Seconds. 

The next (third) highest sale was for this multi-award winning Corvette. It’s a ’67 427/400 Corvette Convertible and, judging by the price, is one of the nicest Corvettes in existence. It’s a black and blue car (Tuxedo Black with Blue interior), which is exceedingly rare. The price? $610,000.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/400 Convertible photo 1967ChevroletCorvette427-400Convertible_zpse66953d7.jpg

Another cool Corvette was this 1991 Callaway Convertible. It has a 400 horsepower engine and a 1990s-teen-bedroom-poster-worthy bodykit. It sold for $135,000.

1991 Chevrolet Corvette Callaway photo 1991ChevroletCorvetteCallaway_zps8f1913b2.jpg

Dana Mecum must have sold his soul to the devil, because he has become the king of getting limited-production muscle cars to his auctions. Like a ridiculous amount of rare cars. That, and there seem to be more Mopars at Mecum auctions than there were built in the late 60s and early 70s. For example, this 1966 Dodge D-Dart Lightweight. It is one of 50 built (and one of two at this sale!). It sold for $26,000.

1966 Dodge D-Dart Lightweight photo 1966DodgeD-DartLightweight_zps9500d45c.jpg

And going back a little farther, we find this 1941 Plymouth PT125 Pickup that sold for $14,500.

1941 Plymouth PT125 photo 1941PlymouthPT125_zps2bab4e44.jpg

Of our other feature cars, the Torino King Cobra and Camaro ZL1 both failed to sell. The L72 Chevy Biscayne with just 720 original miles sold for what has to be a model record of $165,000. Check out full results – including more rare muscle cars – here.

The final part of our “Part I” post for may takes us through Silverstone’s International Trophy Sale. Our featured Maserati Merak with custom coachwork by Saurer sold for $69,000. Top sale here went to this 1964 Ferrari 330GT for $134,900. Check out complete results here.

1964 Ferrari 330GT photo 1964Ferrari330GT_zps1203f6aa.jpg

Koenig Ferrari 512

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1981 Ferrari 512 BBi by Koenig

Offered by Bonhams | Francorchamps, Belgium | May 25, 2013

Ferrari 512BBi by Koenig

The Berlinetta Boxer was Ferrari’s rear/mid-engined two-seater for most of the 1970s and 1980s. The 512 BBi was the last iteration of the Berlinetta Boxer and it was introduced in 1981. What set it apart was that it was fuel-injected.

But this car is slightly different. Willy Koenig was a race car driver in the 1960s through 1990. In 1974 he turned to tuning – and not your run-of-the-mill road cars either. Koenig Specials is his company (it is still around today) and they take outrageous cars and make them more, um, outrageous-er. Cars like the Lamborghini Countach, Mercedes SEC, road-going Porsche 962s and the Ferrari 512 – among others.

This car was tuned when new and spent most of its life in the U.S. before being sold to an owner in Europe in 2008. Most Koenig 512 BBis had their fuel-injected 4.9-liter flat-12 upped 110 horsepower in output from stock – to 450. This particular Koenig 512 had twin turbos strapped to it, pushing output to a ludicrous 650 horsepower. The top speed? A claimed 205 mph. To keep it on the ground, a Koenig body kit has been added as well and many other parts of the car upgraded to handle the power.

About 50 Ferrari 512s were modified by Koenig (either by the factory or by the owners). Koenig doesn’t build super specials like this anymore (although they do still build Ferrari accessories). This car is expected to bring between $100,000-$160,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Did not sell.

Ferrari 599XX

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2010 Ferrari 599XX

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

2010 Ferrari 599XX

Every once in a while – more so lately than ever – Ferrari goes about building some ridiculous race-going variant of one of their road-going models. They aren’t street legal but they look like they could be. They build the cars, sell them, and offer track days to go with ownership. This car is eligible for Ferrari track events all over the world.

The 599XX is the balls-to-the-wall track variant of the 599 GTB Fiorano. This version was produced for 2009 and 2010 while the Fiorano was built from 2006 through 2012. In 2011 Ferrari would up the stakes even more by offering an “Evolution” package for the 599XX. But let’s stick with what we’ve got.

And what we’ve got is the 6.0-liter V-12 with horsepower upped to 720. Ferrari threw everything they had at this car to make it faster around the track. It was faster around the Nürburgring than the Enzo and faster around Ferrari’s test track than super-Enzo: the FXX. It was about as fast as Ferrari’s Formula One lap record at the Nürburgring from the 1970s.

This car is eligible for the Evo upgrade and is a one owner car that has seen a track only once. In fact, it has been stored at the Maranello factory its entire life. It is one of only 29 built and it’s basically brand new. The brand new price for a 599XX in 2010? $1,500,000.  The pre-sale estimate? $1,000,000-$1,400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in Italy.

Update: Sold $1,193,920.

Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamico

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1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Coupe Aerodinamico by Pininfarina

Offered by RM Auctions | Lake Como, Italy | May 25, 2013

1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Coupe Aerodinamico by Pininfarina

The Ferrari Superamerica line of cars was the top-of-the-line model from an already top-of-the-line manufacturer. They used big V-12 engines and many had custom bodywork. They were intended for Ferrari’s most elite clients.

The 410 Superamerica was a super-fast, super-serious grand tourer. In 1959, Ferrari switched from the 5.0-liter V-12 to the 4.0-liter V-12 and the 400 Superamerica was born. The powerplant in this car makes 340 horsepower. It could do 160 mph and Enzo himself drove one. It was offered in two wheelbase lengths and it was the first Ferrari road car offered with disc brakes.

This car was sold new to the U.S. and features breathtaking bodywork from Pininfarina. The Coupe Aerodinamico body is just awesome. It’s both muscular and sleek – almost like a prototype of the forthcoming 500 Superfast. It passed through a number of owners in a number of different countries before being acquired by its current owner: Skip Barber.

Superamericas are some of the most collectible Ferraris. I’ve seen a few different numbers as far as production goes: I’ve seen “14” for the number of 400 Superamericas with this specific Pininfarina-designed body. RM says this is #12 of 36, but I’m unsure if they are referring to 400 Superamericas total, or just the SWB cars. Why am I unsure? Because I’ve also seen 47 as the number for total models built. Well there you go, the info is in there somewhere for you, make of it what you will. Oh, the price? A very large amount. Like between $2,500,000-$3,000,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $2,839,200.